Bailey on R4

[sapper]

Worth a listen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03phd4f

[David Morison]

Re: Bailey on R4

Yes, I heard most of it in the car. The advice I particularly liked was to start taking photographs as soon as you get to a location, while the experience is fresh and before you become familiarised.

David

[Ian]

Re: Bailey on R4

I commented on this yesterday on my DPNow Blog:

http://dpnow.com/forum2/blog.php?b=405

My question was about his attitude to digital cameras...

Ian

[Zuiko]

Re: Bailey on R4

Yes, I heard most of it in the car. The advice I particularly liked was to start taking photographs as soon as you get to a location, while the experience is fresh and before you become familiarised.

David

When I was (trying) to do landscapes seriously I preferred to do a recce of a new location to sort out composition and angles of light falling on the scene at various times of the day. Then I would return when I anticipated that the conditions might match my visualization to take the shot. But hey, we all have our preferred methods of working.

[Ulfric M Douglas]

Re: Bailey on R4

My question was about his attitude to digital cameras...

Its easy to get the hump with a comment like that, but from his point of view it has to be correct,
compared to old cars, all new cars are the same. Same fuel-sipping engines, same electronics, same seats, same suspension etc etc.
The degree of "sameness" is the crux of the matter : if every version of something seems almost the same, there's no soul.
If they keep working and don't need special knacks to operate they are all the same.

Within a narrow field of just digital cameras we can see a lot of variation, a lot of difference, but from outside they do seem "samey".
M9, epson RD1, medium formats excluded from my analysis and if Mr.Bailey is including them and still says they're the same you know what that's about : old bloke talking bollocks ... but really, that's his job.

[Ian]

Re: Bailey on R4

Maybe I am in a privileged position in being able to handle and use a wide range of digital cameras. I certainly say there is a wide variation in 'character'; among the many cameras I have used.

I could say that there isn't much difference between a Rolleiflex and a Yashicamat or even a Minolta Automat, etc.

I would say there is more difference between a Nikon D800, OM-D E-M1, Panasonic Lumix GM and a Fujifilm X-T1?

Ian

[David M]

Re: Bailey on R4

In my film using decades I had preferred brands of 35mm, medium and large format. They had their various idiosyncrasies. I can see where DB is coming from, there's no 'character' with most digital cameras.

[OlyPaul]

Re: Bailey on R4

Maybe I am in a privileged position in being able to handle and use a wide range of digital cameras. I certainly say there is a wide variation in 'character'; among the many cameras I have used.

I could say that there isn't much difference between a Rolleiflex and a Yashicamat or even a Minolta Automat, etc.

I would say there is more difference between a Nikon D800, OM-D E-M1, Panasonic Lumix GM and a Fujifilm X-T1?

Ian

Ian It all depends on what is meant by character and I can see where he is possibly coming from having followed his work since the 60's, but he does sometimes just says thing to be controversial.

There may be operating differences in the modern cameras you list but they all have one thing in common from the medium format film cameras, they are all used at eye level not waist level. Even digital medium format are nearly all of the eye level DSLR type.

This is where most of Bailey's signature portaits (Mick Jagger, Shrimpton.Moss,Deneavu) come from being shot a waist level or even lower, he even used to sit on the floor with a TTL in his lap to get a portrait. That and the MF focal lenghs all combine to give a signature /character look.

I have done this myself and even on MTF shooting portraits from waist level using the flip screen as a TTL viewfinder gives a different look/character to the image than shooting at eye level.

It's got a viewfinder so you shoot at eye level, hell even with just a screen how many do you see holding them at arms length at eye level and how often do you see anyone using it as a waist level TTL for portraits except perhaps candid street photography.

Just my thoughts.

[David M]

Re: Bailey on R4

Also, in those days you had to know how to use your tools.

[srtgray]

Re: Bailey on R4

You still need to know how to use your tools.

When I teach Photography, I make a point of saying that one thing which separates a photograph from a snapshot is the position of the camera. If you can find an angle that doesn't come from holding the camera at eye level, you are a step ahead in the game.